Infographic: Marvel vs. DC – Who Wins at the US Box Office in Movie Adaptions?

Arguably, when it comes to Marvel vs. DC, Marvel have the best catalogue superheroes (I’ll let you fight that one out in the comments section below) and with all the movie adaptation from these comic book heroes over the last 50+ years, it’s interesting to see just how each movie has fared. FancyDressCostumes have created this rather great infographic looking at all the US box-office takings for every movie pitching DC Comics’ Batman The Movie (1966) to The Dark Knight Rises (2012) to Marvel’s with Howard the Duck (1986) to The Amazing Spider-Man (2012).

All the amounts in $$$ below have been adjusted to allow for inflation and you may be surprised at just how close the results are. Scroll down to check it out and keep your eyes peeled for our competition with the lovely chaps at FancyDressCostumes which goes live next week.

I think this graph is for comic-to-movie adaptations, but hey, not sure.

Max Walton

Now let’s do Marvel vs DC vs CapCom. You know, just like old times 🙂

Anonymous

Should also include movies that were made with the intent to release box office (not video) and were either changed to video or not released. Captain America movie from 70’s (changed to video) and Fantasic Four (never release) bring down average even more

There is NO way the 1966 Batman movie made 91 Million dollars at the box office. I want proof.

Chicky

Those comics are published by DC but are not created by DC.

Anon

“All the amounts in $$$ below have been adjusted to allow for inflation…”

kamish

You do see the bit that tells you its adjusted for inflation right

frankcastle

You missed the first Punisher film with Dolph

Meghan

300 is owned by Dark Horse, not DC.

Jacob

This is domestic only. Would like to see worldwide as well.

scott

these box office number are waaaay off. i dunno where you got the numbers, boxofficemojo has the accurate numbers

BronyLord

I love the DC characters, especially Batman. Has Marvel made any other movies lately?

Bob

Older movies have an advantage when you adjust for inflation. If you look at all time totals adjusted for inflation, the vast majority of movies that come up are at least 30 years old. That’s because there where fewer options for watching movies- no cable tv, no VCRs/DVDs, no internet. So if you wanted to watch a movie, your only choice was the theater.
The DC movies on this list skew older than the Marvel movies, so that explains why they’re more “successful” adjusted for inflation. Throw in things like home video sales and Marvel would jump by a lot.

tainted lunch

You forgot Batman: Mask of the Phantasm, which was released in theaters. Swamp Thing should also be included since at the time of its release it was a part of DC proper.

Momus

DC has essentially never made a dime from anything except their 2 most famous characters. They should really be trying to capitalize on some of their other properties.

Also, this info graphic would have been a lot more interesting if the timelines were synchronized. It would show how Marvel did nothing for decades and then very quickly dominated – very similar to what happened in the comic book industry actually.